


Locked In

by temporaryistemporary



Series: a chosen family [8]
Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Dissociation, Hurt TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Manipulative Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Panic Attacks, Protective Wilbur Soot, Resurrected Wilbur Soot, eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:48:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29731368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/temporaryistemporary/pseuds/temporaryistemporary
Summary: Tommy had just wanted to visit the prison one last time, to put his past behind him and move forward with his life. He was really regretting ever even going near it, now.
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Series: a chosen family [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2119869
Comments: 12
Kudos: 155





	1. With You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *WARNING* minor dissociation, manipulation, panic attacks

It was supposed to be his final visit. A goodbye of sorts. To the anger and the hurt. To his wounds, both mental and physical. To ~~his friend~~ Dream. To his past. It wasn’t supposed to turn out like this.

With distant explosions that made something in the back of his mind howl.

( _“L’Manberg! No!”_ )

With dark walls boxing him in and no way to escape.

( _“It was never meant to be.”_ )

Stuck with a cracked mask worn by an even more cracked man.

( _“Those weren’t even the real discs, Tommy! I’m just playing with you!”_ )

Tommy was just supposed to say his piece and leave, that was all he wanted. To let Dream know that he had no more control over him, and he never would.

But now he was trapped with that green bastard.

He just stood there, dumbfounded, staring at the lava and waiting for it to open. For this to be some elaborate joke, and the lava would move and there would be Sam, waiting for him on the other side. And he would leave the prison and there would be Wilbur, who had promised to wait for him so they could go meet Tubbo and Ranboo at Snowchester. And then they would all head back to the castle, together, where they would sit with Fundy and Eret and have dinner. As time went on, however, it was becoming more and more apparent that this wasn’t a joke, it was really happening and he was really stuck in here for the foreseeable future with _him_ -

There was a pain in his chest as Tommy heaved out breath after raggedy breath, hands shaking as he gripped Wilbur’s borrowed coat. (He had worn it ever since his second exile, but had given it back to his brother after he was resurrected. Outside the prison, however, Wilbur had stopped him, taking the jacket off his shoulders and throwing it over Tommy’s own. He hadn’t been sure why, at the time, but now he couldn’t be happier for it. The coat, while associated with painful memories, still brought him some form of comfort.) After another moment he looked down at his communicator, quickly shooting Sam a message and eagerly waiting for a reply. He could feel the ache in his chest slowly spreading.

“Don’t be surprised if he doesn’t answer.”

Tommy forced himself not to jump at the sudden voice, his hand clenching down painfully on the opposite forearm. “What?” He snapped, tilting his head just enough to see Dream out of the corner of his eye, shoving down the instinctive urge to crack a joke about how much the man looked like a walking traffic cone.

“I said, don’t be surprised if Sam doesn’t answer you,” the other chuckled. It made Tommy want to vomit.

“Why wouldn’t he answer me?”

Dream snorted, “He’s probably busy fixing whatever damage those explosions caused, or trying to find the source. There’s more important things Sam has to do than answer your messages.” Tommy nearly recoiled at that, nose scrunching as he glanced back to the com unit. “Besides, it’s a security breach, so even _if_ he sees your message, he can’t let you out until either the problem has been fixed or you’ve been in here for a week.”

“ _A week?!_ ” Tommy shrieked, whirling around to finally face the man. He took a half step back upon seeing the other had stood up from his previous position of sitting on the floor.

“Well yeah. Didn’t you read the contract, Tommy?”

Of course he did, Wilbur had made sure he had. In his panic, though, he had momentarily forgotten about that part of it.

“So, what? I’m fucking stuck here with you, for a whole week?

“I can’t exactly go anywhere else, now can I?”

This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t.

Tommy turned back to the lava, shouting for the warden at the top of his lungs.

“Tommy,” Dream started, sounding like he was scolding a small child, “he’s not going to let you out. There’s a brea-”

“Shut up,” he snapped, and then cupped his hands around his mouth to make himself louder. “Sam!” Tommy didn’t give a flying fuck about protocol or whatever, he wanted out. He wanted out _now_.

His communicator pinged suddenly and he grinned smugly at the huff of annoyance Dream let out, only for it to fall as read over the message.

_‘Sorry, the TNT screwed up more than I was expecting. I’ll get you out as soon as I get this handled. Hang in there.’_

Dream must’ve picked up on Tommy’s uneasiness because when he next spoke, his voice was smug. “He’s not coming, is he? I told you, they don’t care.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Tommy repeated.

“No one’s coming for you. I bet no one will even notice you’re gone.”

Wilbur was waiting for him outside. Wilbur would notice. Wilbur-

“And even if they did, I doubt they’d care.”

Tubbo and Ranboo would care, they were waiting for him.

“They’re all too busy with their own lives to give a shit about you.”

Eret and Fundy would care.

“They’re just acting like they do, because they pity you.”

“That's not true,” Tommy choked out, finding his voice again. Footsteps were coming towards him and he snapped his gaze to Dream, who had stopped his approach and was standing in the middle of the room (if one could even call it that).

“Oh, Toms.” Tommy cringed when the nickname fell out the man’s mouth, mocking and cruel. “I’m only telling you the truth. I’m your friend, remember?”

They… _were_ friends, weren’t they? Dream had visited him exile, because they were friends. He had let him keep his armor sometimes, and gave Tommy food when he had gone a few days without anything but a couple apples because he hadn’t been able to bring himself to step foot in the water to hunt for fish. The man had been the only one to come to the beach party. Because they were friends. Right?

Tommy’s head felt fuzzy.

He blinked and a hand landed on his shoulder. He blinked and a fractured, smiling mask was in front of him, an eye peeking through a missing sliver. He blinked and he was being pulled into a burning hug, strong arms trapping his own against his sides and a hand digging painfully into his shoulder.

It took him a moment to realize that Dream was talking to him, speaking lowly while he brought up a hand to card through Tommy's hair, ignoring the boy’s attempt to lean away.

“-it’s okay. You’ve got me now, and we can have so much fun again. It’ll be just like exile.”

The words seemed to pull Tommy out of whatever stood he had been in and he began thrashing in Dream’s hold. The man held fast to him, squeezing painfully, until Tommy’s head slammed viciously into the front of his mask, and he let go out of surprise. Dream grunted as he dropped to the floor, hand moving aside his mask and gripping his nose, which was now steadily bleeding. Tommy quickly threw himself away from the older man, back smashing into the obsidian wall next to the lava as he started screaming.

“Sam! Sam!”

“How many times do I have to tell you?” Dream growled, pushing himself up off the floor. “ _No one_ is coming.”

“Phil! Tech!”

A hand reached out to grab him again, but Tommy dodged it, shoving the other away from him. _Fuck_ , why wasn’t someone here yet?

“ _Wilbur! Wil!_ ”

“Shut the _fuck_ up, Tommy!”

Someone grabbed his bicep and he winced, crying out fearfully.

“ _Dad!_ ”

And then he was falling backwards, the grip on his arm having been used to shove him to the floor. Tommy could barely let out a yelp of pain before his head slammed into the obsidian and everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know, I’ve been trying to write a nice, chill story where Wilbur and Sam talk to each other about wanting to protect the children and kick Dream’s ass and my brain really said “you know what would be better than that? ANGST” and then this happened  
> whoops  
> (I’m still working on the Sam & Wilbur story though so that may even come out before the second chapter of this idk)


	2. With Nothing to Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wilbur’s pissed and so am I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> most of this was written before Tommy’s stream today
> 
> *WARNING* panic attack

The shock waves from the explosion were enough to knock Wilbur, who had only been standing a couple meters from the prison entrance, right off his feet. He cursed at the way his damaged hand (the one that had pressed the button, the one that trembled when he tried to use it) scraped against the rough ground before crumbling, sending him face first into the dirt.

_What the fuck?_

“Wilbur!” Someone was calling out to him, desperate to be heard over the ringing in his ears. The voice sounded like it speaking through honey, slow and muffled. “Are you okay?”

It was Sam in front of him, creeper mask firmly in place and netherite armor glinting in the sun. Wilbur grabbed the man’s hand, allowing himself to be pulled into a standing position and glaring at the prison. The structure seemed fine from the front, but he could see a few trees near the back steadily burning.

“Yeah. What the hell happened?” Wilbur asked, steadying himself before snapping his gaze to the warden. “Wait, shouldn’t you be inside the prison? In case Tommy calls for you to let him out.”

The other tensed, and Wilbur didn’t have to see his face to know the man was avoiding his stare.

“I can’t,” Sam said, starting to make his way around the back of the prison, with the ex-general following. “I have to survey the damage caused by the TNT and repair it. And then I’ll have to find whoever set it off, but that can wait until after all of this.”

“What do you mean you _can’t_?”

The warden sighed, “I mean I can’t, Wilbur. You’ve read the contract, if there’s a threat to the prison while someone is in there, they can be held up to seve-”

“Oh shut up, Sam.” Wilbur interrupted, rolling his eyes when the hybrid turned to look at him. “You and I both know that’s bullshit.”

“Wilbur, I can’t just go against protocol-”

“You’re far too protective of Tommy to let that stop you, I’ve seen you chase Jack Manifold off just for _looking_ at him a bit wrong. So what’s really going on, Sam?”

The other stopped suddenly, Wilbur nearly crashing into his back, a harsh hissing noise bubbling out of the man’s throat as he ripped his mask off and spun around to face him. The hybrid’s face was pale under the patches of green and he looked almost haunted.

“I _can’t_ get him out.” Sam repeated, holding up a hand to stop the other from speaking. “Whatever happened must’ve messed with the redstone or something because the lava didn’t budge when I pulled the lever. I tried to get Tommy out of there immediately but nothing was working.”

Wilbur sucked in a sharp breath, far more anxious with the turn of events. “So he’s stuck in there with Dream? _Alone_?”

Sam nodded, “Until I can fix whatever is broken, yeah. Which means you need to leave the premises.”

“Hell no. Absolutely not!” Wilbur snapped.

“Wilbur, please. I can’t have anyone but me seeing how the prison works, and I can fix this much faster without you hovering over my shoulder the entire time.”

“So, what, you expect me to just sit by while Dream is probably tormenting my brother?”

The warden huffed, fitting his mask back over his face and squaring his shoulders. “No. I expect you to take a step back and let me do my job so I can help Tommy.”

Wilbur knew he was right. He knew Sam would do what he could to get his Toms out as soon as possible, and he knew the man could do that best if he was left alone. But it made him feel so useless. His brother, _his_ _boy_ , _~~his son~~_ was trapped with his abuser and he could do nothing but wait for Sam to fix the prison. He couldn’t even talk to Tommy due to the stupid lockdown rules that would block everyone’s messages but the warden’s. There had to be something he could do.

He sighed, his voice coming out softer than he meant it to, “What the hell am I supposed to do then?”

“Maybe let Tubbo and Ranboo and whoever else know about Tommy, I guess. Get ready for when he gets out because I don’t think it’ll be pretty. I’ll try to make sure he’s not in there for too long, though.”

Wilbur nodded absently, willing his hands not to shake as Sam shooed him away from the building. He should go immediately to the kids, they were bound to be worried when him and Tommy didn’t show up to walk with them back to the mainlands, but, before he knew it, he found his feet walking down the familiar path to Eret’s castle. He didn't even realize it until he was falling to his knees just inside the doorway, gasping for breath with his head in his hands.

He didn’t even know why he was panicking, Wilbur wasn’t the one trapped in a box with a mad man, but he couldn’t stop.

“Wil?” A low voice broke through the hysteria, and Wilbur locked eyes with Eret, the others glasses were hooked onto the neck of their shirt. “Wil, are you okay?”

It was an odd parody of the scene at the prison, except there were no explosions and he was just on the floor for no good reason.

“I- I don’t- there’s a-” He stammered, trying and failing to fill Eret in on the situation.

The Royal’s face pinched, and they laced their hands with his, squeezing gently. “Breathe. It’s okay, you can tell me in a moment. Just take a deep breath.”

Wilbur nodded jerkily, doing as the other instructed and coughing a bit when he inhaled too fast. After a few moments of Eret softly counting along to the former spirit’s wheezing breaths, Wilbur felt a little less like he would shake apart at the slightest move.

“Now, what’s happened? Where are the kids?” Eret asked, giving another squeeze when the man’s fingers constricted in their own.

“Tubbo and Ranboo should still be in Snowchester. Tommy is-” Wilbur halted, clenching his jaw as the panic faded and anger replaced it. Not at Tommy, of course. And not at Sam, not really, he knew the other man was doing what he could. “Tommy is stuck in the prison.”

Eret gasped, white eyes widening and Wilbur heard a squeaky noise of surprise from behind him.

“What do you mean, stuck?!” Fundy yelped, stepping through the entry and hovering uncertainty as the other two remained seated on the floor.

Wilbur gave them a rundown of the incident, briefly mentioning the contract, but they all knew the thing was basically worthless where Tommy was involved. Sam wasn’t so cruel as to purposefully leave the boy alone with his tormentor if there was something he could do about it. The ex-president could feel himself becoming more and more furious as he wrapped up the story, nails digging into the palms of his clenched fists almost enough to draw blood.

Oh, he was _pissed_. There was no way that an attack on the prison on the exact day of Tommy’s visit wasn’t purposeful. Dream had to have planned it that way, though he had no clue how the man could’ve done so, or how he would’ve known Tommy would be visiting. It was too much to be a coincidence though. He had warned that prick not to mess with his kids and he would damn sure make good on his promise.

“I’m gonna kill that fucker.” He ground out, looking up to see a similar fire on both Eret’s and Fundy’s faces.

“We need to tell Ranboo and Tubbo what’s happening first. They’re probably worried sick that you and Tommy haven’t shown up yet.” Eret interrupted before Wilbur could go on a spiel about every violent thing he would inflict upon the masked man. The Royal stared at him for a moment longer, taking in his shaking fists and maddened expression that concerningly resembled the look the other had as he had watched the previously dubbed Manberg go up in flames, and turned to catch their adoptive son’s eye. “Fundy, can you go get the boys, let them know what’s going on? And bring them back here if they want.”

The fox hybrid nodded and sprinted out of the castle, sending one last glance over his shoulder. Wilbur turned, staring in confusion as he went, before glancing back at Eret.

“I could’ve gone, you didn’t have to send Fundy all the way out there.”

Eret stood, holding out a hand and pulling Wilbur to his feet when the other grabbed it. “You need to calm down, Wil. You just had a panic attack and now you look like you’re ready to go on a murderous rampage. Fundy can talk to the other boys fine on his own. You and I are going to get dinner ready for when they get back, and we’re going to talk.”

“About what?” Wilbur asked, allowing himself to be led to the kitchen.

“About how we can help get Tommy out of the prison sooner, and how to help him once he’s back home.” Eret stated, handing Wilbur a knife and gesturing to the vegetables that had been set out, while they got the chicken prepped to be cooked. “And then we need to discuss what we’re going to do about Dream.”

“How do you mean?”

“I mean, I know what _I_ want to do, but I don’t think Sam would allow it. So we’ll have to figure out something a bit more subtle.” Eret’s glasses were still off, giving Wilbur a full view of the anger on their face when he turned to look at them. The Royal grinned viciously when they noticed, and Wilbur almost recoiled at the familiar look, before he smirked as well.

Dream had fucked up when he messed with his kids, but the man had made it pretty clear that he cared nothing of the ex-generals threats. He had forgotten something though. Wilbur was far from the only one that would fight for Tommy, that would fight for any of the children on this server. Hell, Wilbur wasn’t even the only one that would _kill_ for those kids. The masked man would find that out soon, however, when he was paying for his miscalculations in blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tommy’s stream made me sad but I’ve now moved on from denial to anger
> 
> “Sam wasn’t so cruel as to purposefully leave the boy alone with his tormentor if there was something he could do about it.” <— this line didn’t age well /j (I love c!Sam but I’m in full feral mode)


End file.
